A new type of exocrine gland and its function in mass recruitment in the ant Cylindromyrmex whymperi (Formicidae: Cerapachinae)

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Olav Rueppell, Associate Professor (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/

Abstract: Workers of the ant Cylindromyrmex whymperi display mass trail recruitment. Bioassays show that the trail pheromone originates from a unique gland between abdominal sternites 6 and 7. The gland has a hitherto unknown structural organization. Upon leaving the secretory cell, the duct cell widens to form a sclerotized pear-shaped reservoir chamber, lined with multiple duct cells. Each duct thus forms a miniature reservoir for the secretions of each single secretory cell, a novel structural arrangement in exocrine glands of social Hymenoptera.

Additional Information

Publication
Naturwissenschaften 88: 395-399
Language: English
Date: 2001
Keywords
Mass trail recruitment, Exocrine gland, Ant colonies, Social insects

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